Spectacled porpoise skull

3D Model

This is the skull from a spectacled porpoise (Phocaena diptrica) that was collected from a stranded animal at Macquarie Island in 2003.

Spectacled porpoises are one of the world’s most poorly known whale species with little information known about their ecology and behaviour. Only a small number of stranded animals have ever been closely examined indicating that their diet includes small fish and crustaceans.

Their short, blunt snout and small teeth indicates that this species primarily captures prey using suction rather than biting, similar to the more well known harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) found in Europe.

Museum Collection: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery

Registration number: TMAG A2566

Scan created in the app PolyCam on an iPhone 15 Pro by Dr David Hocking (Senior Curator of Vertebrate Zoology and Palaeontology, TMAG).